Despite his many years as a propaganda cartoon artist, we rarely draw parallels between Dr. Seuss and strong political opinions. That is, of course, unless someone uses a catchy rhythmic rhyme to blast their opponents.
Much like Dr. Seuss, Bette Midler is seldom singled out for her vocal political opinions, but that doesn’t mean the iconic actress isn’t dripping with them. She recently took to X.com, formerly Twitter, to drop some spiteful couplets that even Dr. Seuss would be proud of – all aimed at Donald Trump.
Using the #DopeyDon, which gained popularity while the disgraced former president couldn’t stay awake during his trial back in April, Midler dropped ten lines of complete fire. She mocked everything from his defining orange makeup to his lifted shoes (the ones he was so desperate to grab after the assassination attempt), and only threw one curse word out in the process.
The short poem came during a flood of Tweets during the second night of the Democratic National Convention. As the night of festivities raged on, Milder joined millions of Americans to bask in the glow of the event. The Hocus Pocus actress rejoiced in “the joy, the exuberance, the energy and excitement” of the event, comparing it to the RNC from a few months before, which she compared to “a wake!”
Of course, not everyone is as enthusiastic about Kamala Harris’ bid for president. Plenty of detractors littered her comments with their own pitiful attempts at poetry, bashing the three-time Emmy winner, but unsurprisingly, they all fell flat.
Every troll that attempted to dethrone the “queen mother” was quickly taken on by other, equally rhythmic Midler supporters. Better yet were the fans who threw their own heartfelt poems up, exuberant to have a new method to dump on the Trump.
But most commenters wanted just a little bit more from the Broadway diva. More than one begged for her to put it “put it to music.”
But most of all, her followers echoed Midler’s sentiment. They voiced frustration about Trump’s unshakable hold on the news cycle. “Trump is like a bad STD and never goes away,” one wrote. “I can’t wait for “TOXIC TRUMP” to go away!” voiced another.
Political poetry has long been considered a disingenuous version of the art form, with some scholars believing that the political nature of the work negates the artist aspect. Regardless of the “artistic” nature of political poetry, its been used to stir up public participation in politics for centuries. Slam poetry has been used to push for change in marginalized communities for decades now, and rapper Tupac Shakur’s lyrics often toed the line between slam poetry and music.
It’s hard not to side with Midler. The sheer normalcy of Harris and Walz is a delicious breath of fresh air, one sorely needed after 9 years of toxic Trump. 2024 has surely shown Trump for the traitorous, treacherous, and useless man he has always been. Midler is right on the money when she said,
“You’re old you’re mean you’re simply stuck
And if you win we’ll all be f***ed.”